Watching Over You
by Rackuhn
Summary: The boys reminisce about a birthday present Heyes has given to Kid. This is one of the first stories that I had ever written and it was previously posted on another site in case it looks familiar. Hope you enjoy it.


**WATCHING OVER YOU**

**By Rackuhn**

**Summary: The boys reminisce about a birthday present Heyes has given to Kid.**

**

* * *

Denver, 1914**

It was heading onto eleven o'clock in the evening when Jedediah "Kid" Curry opened the front door to the modest two story house that he and his cousin's family owned, only to find to his surprise his cousin, Hannibal Heyes, standing there with a devilish twinkle in his dark brown eyes, still handsome features, and a grin that could light up any room even with the wrinkles that had formed over the years.

"Heyes!" Kid yelled out, surprise showing on his still boyish good looks and in his vibrant blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Well that's a fine way to treat family now, isn't it? Especially since I do live here," Heyes said smiling as he entered the house. "Good to see you too, Kid." Kid chuckled as he closed the door and turned around to find his cousin already making himself right at home as always. "Wives go to sleep already?"

"Yup. All the kids were here earlier and just went home a couple hours ago."

Heyes frowned at what he was just told. "Sorry I missed them."

"Don't worry, they understood. Besides, I thought that you were gonna be stuck in New York for another two days," Kid stated as he went over and handed Heyes a fine cigar.

"I would have been, but things got done quicker than I planned, so I took the earliest train home I could find." Heyes sat back on the couch puffing away.

"Glad you're back," Kid said as he sat down beside his cousin and partner, lighting up his own cigar. "Did you get what you went for?"

"Sure did," Heyes just grinned is annoying grin. He knew that it was killing Kid not knowing the reason why he went to New York.

"And?" Kid prompted.

Heyes reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped gift. He then handed it to Kid. "Happy Birthday!"

Kid looked back at Heyes in surprise as a grin crept over his own face. "You remembered!"

"Now how could I forget your birthday?" Heyes asked with an offended look on his face. Kid knew better than to believe it. "It's not everyday that my little cousin turns sixty."

Kid laughed at the remark as he fingered the gift. "What is it?"

"Well open it and find out," Heyes urged.

Heyes watched on eagerly as Kid ripped the wrapping paper off like a five year old, and carefully watched Kid's expression change from surprised, to stunned, then to wonderment. Kid's hand shook slightly as he pulled out an old-fashioned pocket watch, carefully feeling the old timepiece. The watch itself wasn't very ornate, and it's simplistic design showed that it was a fairly common type of watch. The one thing that this watch did have was a large dent in the front casing.

"My watch!" Kid cried out as he recognized it. "You're giving me my own watch?"

"Well, sort of," Heyes explained. "Hold it up to your ear and listen." Kid did as he was told and turned to stare at Heyes as he heard the watch ticking.

"You got it fixed!" Kid exclaimed excitedly. "It hasn't worked in thirty years."

"I know," Heyes laughed. "That's why I did it. I figured a man should have a good watch to use."

Kid sat there for a moment. "I don't know what to say, Heyes. Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Heyes said, looking very pleased with himself.

"Wait a minute! Just how did you get your hands on it? I had it locked in my safe upstairs…" Kid's voice trailed off as he looked at his cousin.

"You forget who your talking to, Kid," Heyes said while laughing at the expression of mock horror on his cousin's face.

"Great, now I need to change that combination…again," Kid chuckled as he continued to look over the timepiece.

"I remember you told me a few months back that you still had that old watch and that you kept thinking about getting it fixed," Heyes explained. "So, I just snuck up there one day, opened your safe, which by the way is almost as bad as those old Pierce and Hamilton's I use to crack, and found it. I took it to one of the best watch makers in New York to get it fixed."

"Gee, Heyes," Kid said still looking at the watch. "I really appreciate this."

"You should have seen the look on the man's face when I told him that I would have to hurt him if he even tried to fix the dent like he wanted to."

Kid's laughter filled the room. "Oh, I would have like to have seen that!" Kid replied. He looked at Heyes with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Can you believe it's been thirty years already?"

"Yeah, I know," said Heyes wistfully. "Do you remember how that watch got dented?"

"Heyes, I was there, remember?"

**ASJ AJS ASJ ASJ ASJ ASJ **

**Virginia City, Nevada, Thirty Years Earlier **

It was another hot, scorching day in Virginia City as the sun relentlessly blistered down upon the town. Kid Curry dragged his body down the hotel stairs in search of some relief from the heat. He knew it was going to be another long day, since it was only nine o'clock in the morning and it already felt like it was one hundred degrees outside. Too hot to even eat, which would amaze anyone who truly knew the man, Kid wandered out the front door and sat down on one of the empty rocking chairs. He watched the people who were walking along, as they too seemed to be wilting in the warmth of the day. The only person he saw that was truly acting normal, well normal for him, was his cousin, Hannibal Heyes. Kid sat back as his partner started crossing the street, whistling happily as he went. Kid scowled at the man as he walked like he had no care in the world. Normally, Kid would have been upset to find Heyes gone already when he woke this morning, but he found the note that Heyes had left telling him that it was too hot to sleep, that he needed to run a errand, and that he would be back soon. Obviously, things went well for Heyes for his smile grew as he spotted Kid sitting there.

"Good morning, Mr. Jones!" Heyes yelled out with a flourish of enthusiasm.

Kid just sat there rocking slowly, trying desperately to create some sort of breeze. "What's so good about it?" he asked with a scowl on his face.

Heyes' countenance never changed as he walked up and sat down in the rocking chair next to Kid's. "Oh, it's such a lovely morning, don't you think?"

"Heyes, it is too hot to be this cheerful in the morning," Kid growled back. "Besides where'd you go anyway?"

"Just had a little errand to run, that's all," Heyes stated as he began whistling again.

"Knock the whistling off Heyes, you're making it hotter," Kid grumbled. Peering over to where his partner was sitting, he finally asked. "What kind of errand?"

Heyes stopped whistling long enough to dig out a small, wrapped package out of his vest pocket. "Must not have had breakfast yet if you're this grumpy. Keep it up and I won't give this to you," Heyes smiled again as he held out the gift. "Happy Birthday!"

Kid sat there stunned, completely forgetting that today was his birthday. "You remembered."

"Now how could I forget your birthday?" Heyes asked with an offended look on his face. Kid knew better than to believe it. "It's not everyday that you turn thirty."

"What is it?" Kid asked as if taking from it Heyes was too much effort.

"Open it and find out," Heyes said with a smug smile on his face.

Heyes looked on eagerly as Kid ripped the wrapping paper off like a five year old, and carefully watched Kid's expression change to one of surprise and awe. "A pocket watch!" Kid exclaimed in excitement. "Heyes, this is great! Thanks!"

"Ahh, I knew you would like it," Heyes grinned. "It's not as fancy as I would like it to be…"

"No…no this is great! Thanks again!" Heyes really wanted this birthday to be special and he knew that he had gotten the perfect gift the minute he saw Kid's face light up in joy. Both men remembered how both their fathers and their grandfather had always carried one. To them, a pocket watch was a sign of distinction, but living on the run and now living to get their amnesty, money usually wasn't spent on such luxurious items. "I can't believe you got this for me!"

"You're welcome, Kid," Heyes said sincerely. "I figured a man should have a good watch to use, and once I saw that, I knew that you would like it."

"I do, I do." Suddenly for Kid, the day didn't seem to be so offensive, and the heat wasn't a problem anymore. Together, both men got up and headed over to the local restaurant to a cup of coffee and a big birthday breakfast.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

As the day wore on, Heyes would smile to himself as he watched Kid pull the pocket watch out just to see what time it was, then discretely put it away in his left vest pocket. Finally that evening found both of them in the saloon, this time only watching the poker games going on. As much as Heyes wanted to join in on one of them, he patiently sat there, along with Kid, waiting for someone to arrive. Their long time friend, Sheriff Lom Trevors, had asked them for their help with a small job that he knew they would be capable of doing. He had telegrammed them two weeks ago and asked them to meet up with a William Blakely, who would explain to them what their job was.

It was shortly after they had arrived at the saloon, that a small, balding man approached their table. "Mr. Smith? Mr. Jones?"

"That's right," Heyes answered.

"I'm William Blakely, owner of Blakely's Emporium here in Virginia City," the small, nervous man said as he sat down. "Sheriff Trevors told me that you two would be able to help me."

"Well that all depends on what kind of help you need," Kid stated, suspicious of what the man was up to.

"Oh, nothing illegal, I assure you gentlemen," Blakely smiled. "You see, I run a thriving jewelry retail business here in town and I need a couple of escorts to help me deliver a large quantity of jewels to a client in San Francisco."

"And you want us to help you," Heyes stated bluntly.

"Oh yes! Especially if you are the way Sheriff Trevors described you," Blakely said enthusiastically. "These jewels are very expensive, and I would feel so much better if I had armed guards to help me deliver them. I'm even willing to pay you both $2,500.00 a piece." The small man looked back and forth between the two men expectantly.

"These jewels must be very expensive," Heyes replied as he looked at Kid, a quick conversation taking place between the two without either one saying a word. "Alright, Mr. Blakely," Heyes smiled, thus causing a great relief to run through Blakely. "You've got yourself some guards."

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

It was that same evening that they went back to Blakely's Emporium so that the man could explain more of the job to them in private. When they entered the store, they saw small collections of antique jewelry, various sorts of necklaces, rings, and bracelets, plus numerous amounts of valuable gems, all safely tucked away in very secure cabinets. Both men were in awe of what they saw and Kid, seeing the look in Heyes' eyes, elbowed the man's ribs to get his attention. Heyes just offered Kid one of his most sincere smiles, to which Kid just rolled his eyes.

"Now gentlemen," Blakely started, "this is what you will be protecting." The little man pulled out of his safe a small metal attaché case, which he unlocked with the only available key. Upon opening it, the two men stared at the case filled with beautiful assorted gems, and one bag that was filled with various sizes of diamonds. Kid whistled at the find.

"This is what we are protecting?" Heyes asked as his eyes greedily took in the value of the small case.

"Yes it is," Blakely stated as he closed and locked the case back up. "Now, there is a story behind these jewels, gentlemen."

"I'll bet," Kid said as he and Heyes sat down in the chairs in front of the man's desk.

"These jewels were accidentally awarded to me to protect and deliver to San Francisco," Blakely began.

"Accidentally?" Heyes questioned.

"Yes. You see, there were several large firms that had placed a bid on the contract to keep and protect these jewels, one of them being Blakelee Jewelers, B L A K E L E E," he spelled out for them, "of Carson City. I tried to correct the error with the company who awarded the bid, a Kingston Security Agency, but all they told me was that since the wheels were already in motion for me to take responsibility of the gems, that I would be held accountable for them, whether I wanted to be or not, and if something happened to them, I would be liable for one million dollars."

"I can see why you would be so nervous," Heyes said in understanding.

"Nervous is an understatement, Mr. Smith," Blakely stated. "I am petrified! If something happens to those jewels, I will loose everything, my money, my store, my reputation, all on account of some security agency that hasn't a clue of what they are suppose to do!" Heyes and Curry watched the as the man almost sent himself into a panic attack.

"Calm down, Mr. Blakely," Heyes consoled. "We'll help you in anyway possible."

"Thank you gentlemen," Blakely said as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "I must say, I do feel better having you here to help."

"So when do these jewels have to be delivered?" Kid asked.

"By next Wednesday at the latest to a Mr. Thomas Lorenzo of Wainwright's Gem Company. He has been awarded the job of taking the loose stones to create new and unique jewelry for the Prince of Syria as a wedding present for his wife to be."

"Syria?" Kid questioned. "Never heard of it."

"Good. That gives a week to get to San Francisco," Heyes said thinking out loud and feeling pretty good at the chance that this particular job should go fairly smoothly.

"There's just one more problem, gentlemen," Blakely said. Kid and Heyes both looked at each other. "These jewels are highly famous and are already known to be in my possession. Before they arrived here, there were already three attempts to steal them. Someone either knew about the route that these jewels were taking, or…"

"Somebody is working on the inside trying to steal them," Kid finished the thought, grimacing at the notion.

"Exactly! That is why I telegraphed Lom for help the moment I found out I was going to be responsible. He has helped me in the past and I was hoping that he would be able to help me again."

"Uh, one question, Mr. Blakely," Heyes said. "Just how much are you getting paid for this job?"

"Normally I would not reveal that information to you, but as it is, I will receive one percent of their value, $10,000.00."

"And your willing to pay us $5,000.00 total to protect them?" Heyes questioned.

"Oh yes," Blakely returned. "If it means that I can keep my business and not be responsible for the one million dollars, it's a small price to pay." The small man just smiled at the two men.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

Early the next morning, the three men boarded the train that was leaving Virginia City, heading toward San Francisco. Blakely had secured the small brief case to his wrist using a pair of handcuffs, giving the key to Heyes for safe keeping. While Blakely and Heyes sat in one of the private sleeping compartments, Kid was taking what looked like a casual stroll through the rest of the train. He carefully looked over each passenger he passed, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of trouble. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be your normal, everyday type passenger, but that did not stop Kid from keeping a mental note as to who was sitting where and what they seemed to be doing at the time.

After having surveyed the entire train, he headed back to the sleeping compartment that the three of them were sharing, and quietly knocked before entering. "Anything?" Heyes asked as Kid sat down.

"Nothing that I could see," Kid replied. "But we'll have to check again when the new passengers board at the next stop."

Heyes sighed as he relaxed back into his seat. "Gentlemen, I can see that you are highly capable of the job that you are doing, but perhaps it would be wise if we had these jewels locked in the safe instead."

Heyes shook his head. "No, Mr. Blakely, that wouldn't be a wise thing to do," he responded. "Safes have a habit of being blown up or broken into."

"And if we do need to make a quick exit," Kid continued, "we'll have the advantage of having the stones with us and not having to make a run to get at them."

"I guess you are right," Blakely conceded with a sigh. "Tell me gentlemen, just how do you happen to know all of this?"

"Oh just past experience," Heyes smiled. "In the line of work we were in, it paid to know ahead of time what kind of problems you could run into on the job."

"Oh?" Blakely questioned. "Just what kind of work were you two in?"

Heyes and Curry both looked at each other. "Let's just say we worked at securing other people's assets," Heyes responded with an innocent look on his face.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

The train ride was uneventful for the first day and it wasn't until late into the second day as Kid was taking his stroll through the train that he noticed a pair of men who also seemed to be checking over the other passengers. He had just entered one of the passenger cars when he spotted them. At first he didn't even realize what they were doing until he stopped and watched them for a few moments. He saw that their motions were very subtle and if you weren't paying attention to what they were doing, you would not have noticed their actions. Quickly taking a seat in the next passenger car, he picked up a discarded newspaper and carefully watched the men as they quietly strolled by. Once passed, he silently followed the two men until they stopped and met up with another.

Not able to hear their conversation with out being noticed, he slipped back out and headed towards the sleeping compartment. "We've got a problem," he informed the other two men as he entered the compartment.

"What's up?" Heyes asked as he stood.

"We picked up at least three men at the last stop that are very good at making you think that they are just passengers, but are doing the same as me, checking everyone out."

"What do we do?" Blakely asked nervously.

"We get off the train, that's what," Heyes informed the small man.

"Get off the train? How?"

"We jump."

"Jump?" Blakely paled suddenly.

"According to the schedule that I was able to get my hands on," Heyes supplied with a side look to Kid, "there is a water stop about ten miles from here."

"That's where we are going to jump?" Blakely asked, clutching the briefcase tightly.

"No," Heyes answered. "That's where we make them think we jumped from. About five miles before that water stop, the train has to climb a low-grade hill. It will slow the train down enough that we should be able to jump safely and head to a small town called Alta. There we'll grab the next stage and be on our way to San Francisco."

"But that could take us several days!" Blakely protested.

"I know, but it would be much safer than trying to get back on the train," Heyes admitted.

"And with the limited number of stops the stage makes, we'll be able to keep a very close eye on the other passengers," Kid explained.

"What about bandits?" Blakely questioned.

"We'll try to make arrangements to have Thaddeus or myself ride on top, to keep an eye out for any danger." Blakely sighed dramatically as he worried about what he had gotten into. "Don't worry, Mr. Blakely. We still have plenty of time to get to San Francisco by next Wednesday."

"I hope you gentlemen are right," Blakely said, his confidence fading.

"Now all we need to do is get around those guys that are looking for us and get ready to jump," Heyes smiled trying to assure the small man.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

Heyes quickly explained the plan to Blakely. The two of them were going to jump off of the train about five miles up from the water stop as the train slowed to go up the low grade, while Thaddeus was going to jump from the train at the stop itself being a decoy. Kid would then head off in the opposite direction from Alta, making the men believe that he was heading south toward a town called Colfa, and once he lost the three men that they were sure would be following him, he would then meet up with the other two to catch the next stage to San Francisco.

Heyes gave Blakely a crash course on how to jump from a moving train and how to land safely. The time to jump finally came and standing on the platform of the last car of the train, Kid and Heyes had to force the reluctant man off but he managed to land in one piece. "See you in a bit," Kid said as Heyes jumped off. He watched as his partner landed and rolled, then stood up waving back at him letting him know that he was okay.

Heyes then turned and ran over to find a very disheveled Blakely standing up and patting the dust off of his suit. "How do train robbers do this for a living?" Blakely innocently asked. "Mr. Smith? You have done this before, haven't you?"

"As I said before, Mr. Blakely, in the line of work we were in, we often ran into all sorts of situations that caused you to do the unexpected," Heyes explained with an innocent look on his face. "This, however, was one of the things that we had to do quite often."

"And just what kind of work were you in again?" Blakely asked taking a harder look at Heyes.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Mr. Blakely," Heyes smiled back. "Now come on, we've got a long walk ahead of us. Alta is about fifteen miles away from here, give or take, and we've got a stage to catch in the morning."

The two men quickly headed in the direction of Alta, knowing that it was going to take them at least five hours of walking with the hilly and rocky terrain that they had to travel over. Heyes was impressed with the small man as he managed to keep up and not complain about the conditions that they were traveling in. They stopped long enough at a small watering hole to drink in some of the cool water and then continued on toward their destination.

It took both men longer than Heyes expected. It was around two in the morning when they finally arrived in Alta, both men were hungry, thirsty, and very dusty. The desk clerk looked at both men with apparent disgust at their appearance, but was more than willing to take their money. Heyes ordered a bath and food to be sent up to their room, tipping the desk clerk with a $5.00 gold piece for his troubles. The two men ate and bathed and finally slipped into their beds an hour later.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

As Heyes and Blakely were making their way to Alta, Kid quickly returned to the sleeping compartment that the three had shared and grabbed a case that matched the one Blakely had secured to his wrist. Attaching a pair of fake handcuffs onto the case then to his own wrist, Kid walked back through the train and "accidentally" ran into the three men who he knew were looking for the jewels. Turning quickly, he headed out of the door and towards the back of the train. Kid felt the train was slowing down for the stop as he ran through another car. Stopping long enough to place a metal bar across the outside of the compartment door, effectively blocking it, he continued down the rest of the train. The three men were abruptly stopped when the door that they were trying to get through would not open. They then turned around and ran to the other door. Once outside, they saw that Kid had already jumped off and was running south at breakneck speed away from the train.

Having been in this area many times before, Kid knew it well and was able to lead his pursuers in the wrong direction. Once he deemed it was safe to lose his followers, he put his tracking abilities to work and was able to carefully hide his trail from the three men. He then ducked into a small, hidden cave, tossed the empty case away, and continued on through a tunnel to the other side of the small mountain. Back out in the open, he looked for any signs of his chasers and continued on in the direction of Alta. It was about an hour later that he finally allowed himself a rest, knowing that it was going to be a long walk to meet up with Heyes and Blakely.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

It wasn't until the following morning that Kid managed to reach Alta and found Heyes and Blakely's room at the local hotel. By the time he arrived, he too was tired, dusty, and very hungry from the long trip that he had just made on foot. Collapsing in the bed that Heyes had just vacated to open the door, Curry closed his eyes for some much needed sleep. "Wake up Thaddeus," Heyes told his partner as he shook him. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"Go away," Kid mumbled as he rolled over and placed a pillow over his head. Heyes, not taking no for an answer, grabbed the pillow and smacked Kid with it. Kid turned and faced his cousin with a glare in his eyes. "I'm tired, Joshua," he growled out. "I'm tired, dirty, and hungry. So just let me sleep." He quickly rolled back over before Heyes could say a word.

With Blakely watching on, Heyes carefully stood by the side of the bed. "Well, did you at least lose those guys?"

"Yeah, I lost them," Kid muttered back. "Now let me sleep!"

"Can't," Heyes replied. "The stage leaves in a couple of hours. That gives you enough time to take a bath and get some breakfast."

Kid groaned out loud at the prospect of not getting any sleep and rolled out of bed to face Heyes eye to eye. "Fine," he ground out poking a finger into Heyes' chest. "I'll get a bath and some breakfast, but you take first watch on the stage. I'll sleep there."

Heyes, looking down at the finger pounding into his chest and knowing better than to provoke an angry Kid took a step back from his glaring partner. "Fine. Fine, I'll take first watch. No problem," he said conceding defeat.

"Fine!" Kid shouted as he grabbed his saddlebag that Heyes had brought with him and headed out the door to the bathhouse. Blakely stood nervously by as he watched the young man go, then turned a questioning glance toward Heyes.

"Don't worry about Thaddeus, Mr. Blakely," Heyes smiled with a shrug. "He's always cranky before breakfast."

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

As planned, Heyes rode on the top of the stagecoach while Blakely and Kid rode inside, with Kid catching up on his sleep. They got lucky when no one else boarded the stage with them. Blakely sat nervously, fingering the case that contained the jewels. He jumped when the door to the moving coach swung open and in dropped Heyes and sat down by his cousin. "Hey Thaddeus," he yelled out while slapping the sleeping man on his leg. "Wake up. Your turn to ride on top."

Kid jumped when he felt Heyes hitting him, almost falling off of the seat. He groaned when he realized what happened. "Aw Joshua, why did you wake me up for? I was having this great dream."

"You can dream about her later," Heyes smiled back. "It's your turn to ride on top."

Kid stared back at his cousin. "How'd you know I was dreaming about a girl?"

"With you, it's always about beautiful women. Now get out there."

"How long have I been asleep?" Kid asked with a yawn, rubbing one hand over his face and picking up his fallen hat with the other.

"I let you have four hours."

"Four hours? Thanks a lot," Kid said sarcastically.

"Hey, that's what Mr. Blakely and I got last night, so quit complaining and get to work."

"At least you slept in a bed," Kid replied as he reluctantly slapped on his hat and pulled himself out of the moving coach and into the seat next to the driver. After two mandatory stops for fresh horses and for the passengers to use the facilities, the stage reached a small rest station where the passengers would spend the night and start out in the morning. The three weary men were grateful for the good food, warm baths, and soft beds.

Bright and early the next morning, they were off again. About four hours into the trip, Kid who was riding on top, pounded on the side of the coach to signal down to Heyes that there was possible trouble brewing. Heyes stuck his head out the side window to questioned Kid. "What's up?"

"Behind us, 'bout a mile back," Kid shouted as he continued to focus on what had caught his attention. Heyes turned to look and saw the dust that was formed by the running horses that were slowly catching up to the stage.

"What do you think?" Heyes yelled back to Kid.

"Comin' up mighty fast," Kid responded as he pulled his revolver out of its holster and did an unnecessary check.

"How many?"

"From what I can see, about four or five."

"Think that they're some of our friends from the other day?"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Kid responded dryly.

Heyes pulled his head back in and turned to Blakely. "Mr. Blakely, we may have a problem coming our way. Just do as we tell you and you and your package should be just fine." Blakely saw the encouraging smile that Heyes gave him but it did nothing to ease his concern. "Oh, you might want to get down on the floor for your own protection." Blakely nodded and quickly slid out of the seat.

The group of men came up fast behind the stagecoach. Kid and Heyes held their gunfire until they were sure of the men's intentions, which were clearly made known when the five riders pulled their own revolvers and pointed them at the coach. "Alright, stop the stage," the leader yelled to the driver as he pulled up beside him pointing his gun at him. The stagecoach driver turned and looked at Kid as he prepared to stop the coach.

"Whatever you do, don't stop this coach until we tell ya to," Kid told the man. Nervously, the driver nodded his head and encouraged the horses on.

The leader seeing that the driver had no intentions of stopping the stage, raised his gun and aimed it at the man. The driver saw Kid take aim at the leader over his shoulder, and to his surprise, watched as the leader's gun flew out of his hand when the bullet painfully hit the it. The other four men saw their leader grimace in pain and spurred their horses on, two going on either side of the coach to try and take out the drivers.

Heyes saw the men split up and knowing that Kid would still be aiming at the two that were behind the leader, he stuck his head out of the other side and took aim. He fired knocking one the riders off of his horse. The second man, surprised that someone inside the coach would be shooting at them, fired back grazing Heyes' right arm and causing him to duck back into the coach.

Kid continued firing taking out the two men that were aiming for the driver and himself, then turned around in time to see one of the other men shooting at Heyes. Kid quickly lined up his shot and the man fell from his horse before he could fire again. Kid looked around to see that only the leader himself was still sitting on his horse and still in pursuit of the coach. Keeping his eyes on the road, the driver spied Kid climbing onto the top of the coach and then jumping off knocking the leader onto the ground. Both men rolled and came to a stop with Kid on top holding the other man by the collar of his jacket and his gun pointed at his head. Before Heyes could even say anything, the driver pulled the horses to a stop and Heyes jumped out of the coach running back to check on his cousin.

Heyes, with gun in hand, stopped in time to see Kid pull the man to his feet holding him by the collar. "Thaddeus, just what did you think you were doing?" Heyes asked as Kid pushed the man along and slammed him against the coach. Blakely cautiously looked out the side window.

"Just thought that he might have some useful information for us," Kid replied staring intently at the man he was holding. "Now, do you want to tell us why you were trying to shoot at us?" The man remained silent trying to ignore the piercing stares of his two captors.

"You know you might want to answer him friend," Heyes smiled darkly at the man. "He gets very cranky when some one shoots at him and I get down right ornery when people shoot at me."

The man looked back and forth between the two men and swallowed hard. His face went white as a sheet when Kid's gun was placed against the side of his head and he heard the gun cocked. "The jewels," he squeaked out. "We were supposed to get the jewels."

"Who sent you?" Heyes questioned this time.

"Roberts. Preston Roberts," the man managed to get out.

"And who is this Preston Roberts and why does he want the jewels so badly?"

"He is some English guy who hired us to get them for him," the man blurted out. "He says he wants to discredit the King of Syria, something about getting even with the guy. That's all I know, I swear!"

Kid and Heyes looked at each other as they silently had a conversation between themselves. "Alright Mister," Heyes venomously said, "tell this Preston Roberts that these jewels are under our protection and that if he tries to go after them again, we won't be so nice next time. Understood?"

"Yes…yes sir, I understand."

"Good!" Heyes smiled back. "Kid?" Before the man new what even happened, Kid sucker punched the man and he went limp as a rag doll. Kid then pulled him off to the side of the road and dumped him there.

"Well, do you believe him, Heyes?" Kid asked as he wandered back over to the stagecoach.

"Yeah I do."

"So what's our next move then?"

"Well Kid," Heyes started, "I guess we get to San Francisco as fast as possible."

"That's your plan?" Kid questioned looking at Heyes with confusion on his face.

"You got anything better?" Heyes smiled back. His smile quickly turned to pain as he moved his arm to reach for the door.

"You're bleeding!" Kid stated as he saw the blood soaked shirtsleeve.

"Just a graze," Heyes said defensively.

"Let me take a look," Kid ordered as he sat Heyes down on the back wheel of the coach as Blakely and the driver watched on. Kid tore open the sleeve and saw that it was just as Heyes said, a graze.

"How bad is it, Mr. Jones?" Blakely asked in concern.

"He's right, just a scratch," Kid said as he pulled his bandana off and wrapped it around Heyes' arm.

"And what about you?" Blakely asked again, seeing some bruises starting to form on Kid's face.

"I'm fine."

"What was that anyway?" Heyes asked as he visually checked Kid over. "Taking a flying leap off of a moving stage only to land on another guy whose riding along on horseback. You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Take it easy, Joshua. I'm fine," Kid replied. "Nothing that a nice, long soak in a hot tub won't cure."

"That better be all it is," Heyes answered. "I might need your help later on and you won't do me any good if you're in pieces."

"Joshua, are you worried about me?" Kid grinned at the concern in Heyes' voice.

"Naw, nothing like that," Heyes smirked as he lifted his injured arm. "It's just that if you keep letting these guys shoot me, I'll need someone to look after me."

"Thought so," Kid smiled back.

**ASJ ASJ ASJ**

The rest of the stagecoach ride was uneventful and three days later it finally arrived at the San Francisco Stage Depot. It was already late Tuesday night and as much as Blakely wanted to deliver the valuable jewels, he knew it was no use since everything was closed for the evening. The three men then headed over to the one of the nicer hotels in the area and registered in requesting that food and baths be sent up to their room. Heyes decided on only one room with two beds since either himself or Kid would be taking turns standing watch while the other one slept. After having cleaned up and eaten, Heyes and Kid tossed a coin to see who would stand first watch. Kid lost. The men finally settled down for the night with Heyes and Blakely soon falling asleep.

The night however, proved to be uneventful and with the coming daylight, the three men shared breakfast together before heading out to see Mr. Thomas Lorenzo of Wainwright's Gem Company. Heyes had slipped out of the room for about an hour but returned after having made arrangements for their trip into town. Both men were particularly cautious this morning knowing that this would be the last chance that Roberts' men would have to get the jewels.

The coach that Heyes had ordered earlier was waiting for them when they arrived outside the hotel and Heyes and Blakely climbed into the enclosed back as Kid climbed into the driver's seat. The coach was then off and running. A few miles later, they came to a stop pulling along side another one that was similar to their own while a cab had pulled up behind them. Both coaches and the cab sat there waiting for the workers whose delivery cart was blocking the main street as its owner tried to get the horses to cooperate and back the large wagon up to the front entrance of the building. A few moments later the road was clear and both coaches were on its way.

It was at a busy intersection that the coach was once again stopped as Kid waited for the police officer, who was directing the traffic, to give them clearance to continue on. Being that they were entering the business district, numerous coaches and cabs surrounded them. Kid, once again, had the coach on its way to Wainwright's Gem Company and the traffic had finally cleared up having passed the busiest section of town.

Kid had a nice steady pace going when a man on horseback and holding a gun, forced him to pull into a back alleyway where three more men were waiting for them. "Alright, keep your hands where we can see them and get down," ordered a man with an English accent. Obediently Kid followed the man's instructions and climbed down from the coach as ordered.

One of the men, who Kid immediately recognized as the leader of the stagecoach fiasco, quickly walked up and with a bandaged hand, removed Kid's gun from its holster, smiling broadly in anticipation of returning the punch Kid had given him a few days before. "This is one of them Mr. Roberts," the leader said excitedly. "This is definitely their coach. The other two are inside." Kid stood there steely-eyed as he watched Roberts open the door to the coach.

"What the…" the man shouted as he looked inside and saw that the coach was empty.

That was all the distraction Kid needed. Grabbing the stagecoach leader's injured hand, he twisted hard enough to remove the gun from the man's grip and threw him to ground. Taking aim, Kid quickly shot the man, who had corralled him into the alley, in the right shoulder, dropping him to the ground in pain. The second man had his gun shot out from his hand. Seeing that things were not going as planned, he took off in fear of being killed by the deranged gunman. Kid then swung around and shot Roberts' arm causing him to loose his weapon. He too dropped to the ground in pain. It was then that Kid realized his error when the stagecoach leader leapt up to his feet and pointed Kid's own weapon at him and fired.

"Kid!" Heyes yelled as he came around the corner just in time to take in the scene as the shot rang out. Heyes watched in horror as he saw Kid fall back with the impact of the bullet slamming into his chest. Heyes' own gun was instantly in his hand and firing at the man who was still holding onto Kid's smoking gun. The man went down in a tower of pain as the bullet struck him in the right shoulder and the gun went flying. Heyes was moving before he even thought it. First collecting the guns and making sure that none of the injured men held any more surprises, he then knelt next to his unmoving partner.

Heyes' fear tripled when saw that Kid's eyes were closed shut, that he wasn't breathing, and he was stiff and unmoving. "Kid?" he asked in a quaking voice. He hesitantly reached out and touched Kid's shoulder fearing that he had just lost his best friend. It was then that the man suddenly took in a shuttering gasp of air and then curled in upon himself, grasping the left side of his chest where the bullet struck.

"Take it easy Kid," a surprised and relieved Heyes said while pushing the man's shoulders down so that he was lying flat on his back. "Don't move!"

Taking in another gasp of air, Kid hissed in pain. "God Heyes, it hurts!"

"That's why you need to keep still," Heyes ordered his friend as he started to unbutton Kid's shirt. Kid stopped moving long enough to throw a look at his partner but kept his retort to himself as he saw the concerned look on his friend's face. Then the crushing pain that continued in his chest caused him to concentrated on just trying to breath.

Heyes finally tore open Kid's shirt and was surprised to find no blood but a large, circular bruise on the left side of younger man's chest. "You did get shot, right Kid?" Heyes asked as he examined the wound.

"What do you mean by that?" Kid gasped out as he winced in pain from his cousin's probing fingers. "You saw me get shot!"

"Well it would help if you would bleed," Heyes said looking into his cousin's pained eyes.

"What?"

"Bleed!" Heyes yelled out. "You're not bleeding!"

"That's a good thing, ain't it?" a confused Kid shouted back. He tried to roll up as another wave of pain hit him.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Heyes sighed in relief as he held Kid's shoulders down. "Come on now, you gotta lie still. You may not be bleeding, but it looks like you got some busted ribs."

"Wonderful," Kid said sarcastically as his head thumped back down onto the ground, breathing heavily. Heyes saw the pain that was etched on the younger man's face as he continued to check his cousin over.

"What I don't understand is how you aren't dead right now," Heyes pondered.

"You don't see me…complaining about that, do ya?" Kid asked as his breathing seemed to ease a bit. "Although at this point…I might be better off," he stated as his face creased once again with pain as it flared through his side.

"He shot you at almost point blank range. Something stopped that bullet and left one heck of a bruise on you." Heyes ran his hands through Kid's shirt and vest and stopped when he found a solid object. Slowly he removed the object that had saved Kid's life. "The watch!"

"What?" Kid panted, his eyes closed as he rode out another wave of pain.

"The pocket watch," Heyes stated again. "It was in your vest pocket. It stopped the bullet."

Kid opened his eyes and saw that Heyes was holding up the pocket watch, which Heyes had given him for his birthday. The shiny, pristine watch now had a large dent in the front casing. "My watch!"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Heyes smiled holding the object up for closer inspection. Holding it to his ear a frown appeared on his face.

"What's wrong?" Kid asked seeing the expression on his partner's face.

"It's broken," Heyes said miserably as he leaned back on his haunches. "He broke your watch, Kid." Kid lay there for a moment watching Heyes then started laughing. The laughter quickly turned into a bout of coughing. "Hey, take it easy!" Heyes yelled as he held down the writhing man.

The coughing finally subsided and Kid relaxed a bit. "Ohhhh," Kid groaned in a pained voice, "Sorry Heyes. It's just I get shot, almost killed…and your upset…because the watch you got me…for my birthday is broken? You're something else, ya know that?"

Heyes' face took on a hurt expression that transformed into one of understanding then a large smile. "I guess I am, ain't I?"

"What about Roberts and his men?"

"Don't worry about them, they're not goin' anywhere."

"Hey, where's Blakely," Kid asked as he tried to sit up.

"Will you lie down!" Heyes sternly said as he pushed Kid back down. "I'm telling you, you try to get up one more time and I'll flatten you!"

"We gotta find Blakely," Kid stated, knowing that it was futile to attempt to get back up with Heyes hovering, and if he was honest with himself, he really didn't feel like getting up.

"Will ya quit worrying about Blakely, he's fine," Heyes ordered. "He's already heading to Wainwright's to give them the jewels. Our plan on having him switch coaches worked and Silky's men are now taking care of him, although you were suppose to wait for me to arrive before you took on the bad guys."

"Sorry, didn't have time."

"Well, too late to worry about that now. The next thing we need to do is get you to a doctor."

"I'm fine Heyes. I don't need a doctor."

"Oh yeah? Take a deep breath." Kid just glared at Heyes knowing that there was no way he was able to do that. Heyes smiled back with an "I told you" smile.

Heyes' mind was already starting to formulate a plan of getting Kid to a doctor, when shouts and running feet were heard heading their way. Four San Francisco police officers skidded to a stop when they saw the scene before them. With his gun drawn, one of the officers slowly walked up to the two men. "Mr. Smith? Mr. Jones? We were told by a Mr. O'Sullivan that you are a couple of government agents working on a jewelry theft case and that you two might be in trouble?"

Kid and Heyes stared at each other for a moment. "Hi Officer," Heyes said smiling as he looked up at the man. Everything's under control as you can see, but my friend here is in need of a good doctor, if you don't mind, oh, and I guess these guys need one too." The officer just nodded and ordered one of his men to go get some help to get everyone to the local hospital.

"You know Heyes," Kid whispered, "I think Lom…owes us big time for this one."

"At least," Heyes responded. "Next time he tells us it's going to be a simple job, we turn it down."

"Uh, thanks for taking care…of that guy for me," Kid said looking slightly embarrassed.

Heyes grinned in response while holding up the watch. "Hey someone has to "watch" over you."

"Cute Heyes, real cute!"

**ASJ AJS ASJ ASJ ASJ ASJ**

"Yeah, Mr. Blakely got the jewels to Wainwright's, thus saving his business, Roberts and his men were arrested for attempted robbery and attempted murder, the Prince of Syria was happy to get his wedding gift, and we got paid pretty well for that job," Heyes said wistfully as he continued to ponder that experience.

"We should have. If I remember correctly, I had four busted ribs from that little experience," Kid stated while unconsciously rubbing the left side of his chest, "and almost punctured a lung."

"Yeah, you sure were banged up alright. I'll tell you Kid," Heyes said as he got up to pour them both a drink, "I really thought that you were dead. When I saw you lying there… Who would have thought that that watch would have saved your life?"

"Yeah, well I'm just glad that you didn't get me what you usually did," Kid smiled back while taking the proffered drink.

"What? You didn't like my gifts?" Heyes asked offended.

"I don't think gun oil and a cigar would have had the same effect as the watch did."

Heyes nodded his head in agreement. "I think you got a point there," Heyes said holding his glass up in salute. "Hey, you didn't read the inscription I had put on the back of the watch," Heyes said with a gleam in his eyes.

Kid took the watch and turned it over and slowly read the inscription. "Here's to watching over you for another 30 years." Kid turned his eyes to meet Heyes' smiling face. "Cute Heyes, real cute!"

The End.


End file.
